Automobile vehicle



c. c. MARTIN- ANO J. H. COTTON.

'- f vAUTOMOBILE vEHlcL'E.

APPLlcATloN man MAO. s. |919.

- "1,364,398, lPatented Jan. 4,1921.

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ATTORNEY IN VEN T016` 5 skins-saura.

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)ICL c.- MARTIN AND I. II. COTTON.

AUTOMOBILE VEHICLE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 8. 1919.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921;

5 SHEETS--SHIEET 5 muy@ II I I l BYy ATTORNEY i latter lis hearing A. CORPORATION 0F OHIO.

Lacasse.

Application filed March 8, 1919.

To alla/071.07m t may concern.'

Be it known that we, CHARLES C. MARTIN and JAMES H. CorroN, citizens of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automobile Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

`This invention relates to improvements inautomobile vehicles in which the power is applied to all of the wheelsand the steering takes place on all the wheels also. .Each wheel is swiveled to the axle housing upon which it is mounted in such manner as to be readily removable with its driving gears and axleshaft, thereby also permitting the removal oi' the differential construction intact. The axle housing is integral and continuous from wheel to wheel, and the differential casing is arranged to be set into the axle housing and secured therein in such manner as, to be readily loosened and lifted out entire for repairs or for access to the axle housing. The axle housing at its ends is formed into largevv jaws to receive the load axle which is also. provided with unusually large jaw members for engaging -the jaws on the axle housing to -which it is swiveled by appropriate swivel pins. The axle construction is of the full-floating type and the wheel is formed with a spacious hub into which is mounted the load bearing axle, which receives the wheel driving axle; the geared to the driving gearmechanism actuated by'the a'xle shaft. y

The features of this invention are the relatively small number of'parts, the exceedingly strong construction provided, the readiness with which thewheel and its associated parts may be removed from lthe axle housing, the integral axle housing continuous from wheel to wheel, the mounting of the differential in a separate casingand mounting the same upon and securing the same to the axlel housing to be capable of removal without disturbance of the parts of the axle housing, and the connection of the torsion rod with the top housing on the ydifferential casing, whereby the movement of the axle shaft Iis rendered more steady and the stress due to the wheels corni-ug into contact with road obstacles or due to irregularities in thesurf'aee of the roadway is relieved in greater measure than with pres-` ent constructions.

Specification of Letters Patent.

cardinal features l of the. vehicle.

AUTOMOBLE VEHICLE.

Yratenuai aan.' a, i921. seri-a1 no. 281,510. i

Simplicity and strength and ease of assembling and disassembling the parts' are of this invention which will appearin detail as the description proceeds.4

Referring to the drawings which are hereto attached and are hereby made a part of this specification '-Figure l lis a vertical transverse section through the wheel and swivel joint and includes a longitudinal vertical section through the associated axle housing and shaft and the diiferential casing and housiugthereon. F ig2 is an inside elevation of the wheel withthe swivel and driving mechanism 1n section, taken along 70 the line A-A olfig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section along the line B-B of Fig. l to illustrate the construction at the top to show the connection of the torsion rod. It will be noted thatrtlie axle and in Fig; 3 the for' wardA part of the vehicle frame is at theA right, the worm geardrive fory the'differential and the bearings therefor also'appeering in this View. of the center portion of the axle housing'4 showing the mounting thereon ofthe casing vfor the driving connections between the driving shaft and the differential; Fig 5 isa top plan viewoi the wheel and axle and 8,5 differential and associatedparts; Fig; 6' is from the outside an eleyatien yof the wheel In the drawings-1 isthe axle' housing integral and continuous from side to side of 90 the vehicle; 2 is the, housing for thediler- I ential casing in which the differential gearing appears inFig. l, the housing bein@ secured to the axle housing at 3 and 4, rom'y detached on occa- 96 which it can readily be sion; carried'on' the housing for the' differential casing at the top thereof is a plata member 5 secured thereto by the screws 6, 6. on which member is' mounted the torsionrod by means of the mounted at its other end at- 9 inthe end frame member 10.` .This rod has pivotal connections at its lends and in `the form here Shownv is in 'two' parts connected by. the

turnbuckle 11 fixed in the desired position 106 by the lock nut 12. This manner of mounting the torsion rod on the top'housing of the diierential tends to overcome 'to an extent notpossible 'with other mountings the pinching or binding efect produced between 11e construction shown herein is that of a front axle,

Fig. 4 is an `elevation 80 V pin 8,1the rod being'100 roadway.

. reinforcing I the pinion 21 is seen spring supported load thereon, and also by the contact of' a wheel with obstructions or by the irregularities of the surface of the The 4axle housing `1 expands into the wire -'aws 13, 13 to"'accommodate the gears and swivel joint construction and. to coperate with' the load bearing axle mounted into the wheel. At 14 the housing lis reamed t0 seat the housing 15 in which are mounted lbearings 16 for the axle shaft 17, which 'carriesthe pinion 18 engaging the'pinion 19 carried on the pinion shaft 20, which lat- Ater carries at its upper end the pinion 21 provided with the long sleeve or hub 22 for The pinions the construction. 18 land 19 and the end of the hub of pinion 21 lie within the -housing 15, a very compact -formation permittingof ample lubrication without wastage. A similar housing 23 for in Fig. 2.

The wheel 24 has'V into the hub member 26 into which is mounte'd the loadbearingfaxle 27 which supports the wheel 24 onztghe bearings 28; the load bearing axle 27 expands into the projecting member 29 at the top to coact with the to the lower flange 291 jecting jaw 13 of the axle'housing lto form the 'swivel joint. The projecting member 30 issecured of the bearing axle at' 31 and coacts Withthe lower jaw`1i3of the axle housing 1 to form the swivel joint. The

pinion shaft 2O at its upper end is support4 ed in the. bearings 32 mounted inthe promember 29 of the loadbeariiig axle and at its, lower end in the bearings 33 mounted in the projecting member. 3() carried on the 'load bearing axle liange 29u.

The wheel'diiving axle 34 has the gear 35 thereon and turns in the bushing 36 inserted in the bearing axle 27; at-its outer end the driving axle 'is squared to receive the Wide flange 37 formed on the wheel cap 38 'secured'in place on the wheel by the screws 39@ This wheel cap is 'a locking disk which transmits the power from the driving axle to the wheeljand so 'creates locomotion. The wheel` is thereby driven around on the bearings -2 8 and the load thus-falls eventually onthe load bearing axle .27,tlie driving axle 34 being-thereby entirely relieved of the The projecting memberV 29 is reamedvatY 40 for the reception of the bearing member 5' 41` on the shoulder of which are provided parts forming `the swivel pin isqload bear- The lower swivel .pin 45 .isheldseing.

curely against turning bythev screw 46 and,..-

.vthe swivel 'motionvtakes place bytthe turn--v struction 48, 23 carried on the lower-prothe web 25 expanding l outwardly.

housing 15 which separates and exposes the by the screw44. On this.

the 'jaw'13. .The swiveling lmotion is imf parted to the wheel byY means of the arm 47 formed on the projection 29 appearing especially in Fig. V2. This be connected with a similar arm formed on the other wheel of the pair sothat thepair may move in unison. f Between the mentioned projecting mem,- bers n the bearing axleis-a housing conjecting member 30, aiding also in providing I bearing surfaces for the ball bearings 33 and for the hub 22 of the pinion 21. It will also be noted that the projecting member 29 carries the contact points 49 and 50 to engage the recessV formed in .the flange 51' on 4the vweb of the wheel- Ihe inner end 52 of the axle' shaft 17 may be squared or grooved and the face of the bore of the differential gear 53 will be 'correspondingly prepared to receive this end of the axle shaft, .which will permit the re.-

moval of the axle shaft by simply sliding it Assuming the-parts to be Aassembled as appears in Fig. 1 the disassembling is'ef-A fected by removing the screws 44 and 46 and-then unscrewing the swivel pins 43 and 45; the wheel including the axle shaft 17 is then readily removed as a whole from the axle housing 1 Cap screws 39 are next removed and the nut retaining the wheel driving axle 34 in place is freeing the load bearing axle and the asso ciated parts from thewheel. Nuts I31 are now removed andtliis allows the members 29 and 29a together with the axleA 34 to be lifted from the housings 48 ter are thereupon removed leaving the split gears 18 and 19.

The assembling of the mechanism is done in the inverse order and nothing further need be pointed out in that matter. l,

The utilization of the full floating axle withv the steering and driving mechanism described above provides the maximum of driving power with the minimum of radius of 'curvature required for manipulating the vehicle andl adapts this style of veliicleperfectly to the cramped or limited conditions of service under which it is peculiarly fitted to operate.

The claims are j j l. In an automobile vehicle having a contaken off, thereby i arm is adapted to" `and 30;,.the lati l vti'iiuousaxle housing --inclosing a differential .j 7 constructiony and a divided axle-driving j shaft, and `a steering and driving wheel als-` i sociated with said housing and an endofl said axledriving shaft, jaws formed on 1-3 l vided axle marines in said wheel, a load bearing axle construc-- tion mounted in said hub and having an integral upper projection thereon, a lower projecting member secured on said load bearing axle construction, pins to swivel said projections upon said jaws, a vertical pinion shaft mounted entirely within said projections,coaxially with said pins', a full floating axle mounted in said load bearing axle construction, having an annular gear thereon positionedlentirely within said projections, a pinion on said pinion shaft adapted. to mesh with said annular gear member, a pinion on said axle-driving shaft, a second pinion on said pinionY shaft adapted to inesli with said axle-driving shaft' pinion, a divided housing encircling said pinion shaft and inclosing said second pinion and said axle shaft pinion, and a second divided housing encircling said pinion Shaft and inclosing' the last mentioned housing and the first mentioned pinion thereon, whereby said wheel structure and said gearing mechanism and said end of said di` vided axle shaft are so associated that they become'bodily removable from said axle housing upon the pins.

ln an automobile vehicle having a continuous axle housing inclosinga differential construction anda divided axle shaft, and a steering and driving wheel associated with said housing and -a'n end of saiddishaft, jaws formed on the ei'id of said axle housing, a spacious hub in said wheel, a load bearing axle construction mounted in said hub and having an integral upper projection thereon, Aa lowei` projecting member secured on said loadbearing" axle ronstructiom pins to swivel said projections upon said jaws, a vertical pinionl shaft mounted entirely within said projections coaxially with said" pins, a full fioating axle mounted in said load bearing axle construction having an annular gear thereon positioned entirely within said projections, a sleeved pinion at the uppirend of said'.

pinion shaft adapted to mesh witli'said annulargear, a pinion at the lower end of said pinion .sha-ft, apinion mounted on the end, of the divided axle lshaft ada ted to mesh with said lower pinion, a divided housing encircling said pinion shaft inc1osremoval of said swivel ingsaid lowei; pinion and said axle shaft pinion and engaging said sleeved portion of said upper pinion, anda second divided housing encircling said pinion shaft and inclosing said last mentioned housing' and engaging said sleeved portion of said upper pinion and inclo'sing said upper pinion, whereby uponthe removal of said swivel pins theentire structure mentioned herein is removable from said axle housing, and upon the subsequent release of the lower projection'inentioned and the release oiatlie lioating axle mentioned thejeiitire actuating mechanism above mentioned becomes exposed to the operator.

3. In an antonio-bile driving and steering wheel construction comprising projecting members mounted on said wheel and a full floating axle construction operatively connected with an annular gear within said projecting members, one of said projecting members being removably secured on said wheel, a pinion shaft entirely included within said projecting meinliers, asleeved pinion on the upper end of said pinion shaft to mesh with said annular rear a second ze a a divided axle shaft therein and having swivel connection with said projecting members, a pinion 'on said axle shaft adapted to mesh with said second pinion, a divided housing encircling said pinion shaft and inclosing` said second pinion Aand said axle shaft pinion and engaging said sleeved p0rtioii of said upper pinion,

a Second divided.

housing inclosing said upper pinion, en-

gaging said sleeved portion thereof and embracing said iii-st mentioned divided housing and forming a thrust bearing forsaid pinion shaft at its lower end, said housings and the pinions included therein being mounted entirely Within the Said projecting members and along with said divided shaft being removable bodily with said wheel upon the detachment of the latter from the axle housing. j

ln testimony4 whereof we affix our signatures inthe presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES C. MARTIN. JAMES H. COTTON Witnesses: j

A. D. Boorii, 'ROY C. l-"FEIL,l l 

